Sportsnet has ruined hockey

[taxbuster]

Originally Posted by Grimbl420

I'm getting really tired of people listing these petty reasons as why they don't like George.

{snip}

The show maybe be bad, but it's definitely not because of George Stroumboulopoulos.

No, it's not bad because of George, but he just doesn't help any either.

And, given that I was around when the Hodge/MacLean transition happened, what I recall was not as visceral or generational a response, but one more based on perception of depth and knowledge.

Strombo, however, paints a different picture to those of us in the more aging portion of the population. He walks, talks and acts like a "wannabe". He pretends to know more than he does, and instead of skillfully querying those who actually played the game he often tries to tell them what's going on. Not smart.

On the other hand, he's easy to ignore. Turn off the sound and he's fine.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

No, it's not bad because of George, but he just doesn't help any either.

And, given that I was around when the Hodge/MacLean transition happened, what I recall was not as visceral or generational a response, but one more based on perception of depth and knowledge.

Strombo, however, paints a different picture to those of us in the more aging portion of the population. He walks, talks and acts like a "wannabe". He pretends to know more than he does, and instead of skillfully querying those who actually played the game he often tries to tell them what's going on. Not smart.

On the other hand, he's easy to ignore. Turn off the sound and he's fine.

The bolded part made me hate him as a host the most.

His wannabe style, clinging to his youth and general physical touching of the analysts just adds to my disdain for him.

[Galakanokis]

Originally Posted by Enoch Root

In fairness to MMM, the production quality of the high def and sound on Vancouver games is substantially better than on Flames games.

That's because I work there and I crack the whip when people don't respect the broadcast signal! I have talked to the Flames about employment but they are not interested in full time techs, their in house producer takes care of technical needs with local freelancers helping out.

I guess it really depends on the trucks that do the games, Dome, Mira will provide trucks for the games but they are not always the same. SN would be responsible for staffing the truck which typically involves local freelancers. Trucks will supply all the gear but operations is on SN. Not sure how to explain the lack of quality on Flames broadcasts as you would think the trucks are the same, maybe just poor direction and operation. Maybe something in the local cable/satellite up links is of low quality in Calgary compared to else where.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

No, it's not bad because of George, but he just doesn't help any either.

And, given that I was around when the Hodge/MacLean transition happened, what I recall was not as visceral or generational a response, but one more based on perception of depth and knowledge.

Strombo, however, paints a different picture to those of us in the more aging portion of the population. He walks, talks and acts like a "wannabe". He pretends to know more than he does, and instead of skillfully querying those who actually played the game he often tries to tell them what's going on. Not smart.

On the other hand, he's easy to ignore. Turn off the sound and he's fine.

That's the strangest take on Strombo I've seen. He's not a wannabe, he's very accomplished. For crying out loud, he started in hockey, he just also happens to be very passionate about music and branched out.

He leads the interview, that's what he's supposed to do. I'm baffled by the dislike some have for him

[TheOnlyBilko]

Sportsnet is my fav sports station these days now. A few years ago it was TSN but to me Sportsnet rocks! I'm also a huge Blue Jays fan though so I love all the Blue Jays coverage they do.

[Incogneto]

I might send this thread to the RSN feedback email address. AC's examples are astonishing.

[Looch City]

I wonder what the quality will be like in the year 2026, in the final year of their contract.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by AC

I've posted this example before but here is the difference between Sportsnet and Fox Sports. This is what I deal with all the time when making my videos. There's a reason I use the other team's broadcast footage as much as possible but swap in the Flames broadcast audio.




The contrast is better, the colours are more vibrant, the picture is sharper (look at the actual netting in the goal for example). Unfortunately I have to crop the ticker out of the Fox broadcast since they keep it on the whole game usually.

At first glance they look comparable then you look at the ice and netting and its like PS3 vs PS4 level of detail differences as RSN is all blurred and fuzzy where Fox is sharp and clear. This is a Canadian broadcaster covering the nation's sport compared to Fox who probably has the NHL fairly low on its pecking order. Embaressing!

[hwy19man]

Originally Posted by taxbuster

And, given that I was around when the Hodge/MacLean transition happened, what I recall was not as visceral or generational a response, but one more based on perception of depth and knowledge.

The internet was not around back then.

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

At first glance they look comparable then you look at the ice and netting and its like PS3 vs PS4 level of detail differences as RSN is all blurred and fuzzy where Fox is sharp and clear. This is a Canadian broadcaster covering the nation's sport compared to Fox who probably has the NHL fairly low on its pecking order. Embaressing!

Save spelling, that's Rogers MO. It sucks that despite the complaints that they'll still try to operate on a lower budget standard than their broadcast colleagues. The video, audio, and graphics just scream last decade.

[Trailer Fire]

Has anyone watched the Fox feeds this year? Trust me, Sportsnet is a godsend in comparison. Shaky cameras. Cameras not following the play. Play-by-play/colour is just horrific across the board.

I'll take SN over Fox every day of the week.

[StrykerSteve]

The game tonight has BRUTAL picture quality. It's basically SD resolution. It's making my eyes hurt.

[dino7c]

Yeah fox sucks...the picture quality is better though

[calgaryblood]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I am not complaining one bit. Growing up as a Flames fan in SW Ontario was brutal back in the 80's because you rarely got to see the team play. Hell, I used to tune into a Detroit radio station on my radio when the Flames were playing the Wings and that was exciting back then, to even hear the game. Before CI it was listening to games online in the early days of the internet and that was amazing. During the beginning of the alt.flames emailing group or whatever it was called. Then CI came out and I was set. Not only could I watch the Flames play every game but I watched a ridiculous amount of other games that didn't mean crap to me. Is Sportsnet coverage perfect? Nope. Do I care? Nope. I get to see the Flames play every game, all I have to do is remember the struggles when I was younger to get any Flames news at all, let alone watch them play and I count myself lucky.

Do you drive a PT cruiser? Then when ppl make fun of you do you reference your grandpa getting places using a donkey? Things change for the better, that's life.

[Tsawwassen]

Originally Posted by Tsawwassen

I get that people don't like the new kid on the block or a change. Go back in time (in the Delorean) and see how other newcomers and changes went through similar patterns of being blasted and fans just really ticked at them. TSN went through this, FOX taking over the NFC package from CBS. NBA fans were angry when NBC lost the contract, Monday Night Football going bye bye on ABC.

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

Sportsnet isn't the 'new kid' though. It has been broadcasting NHL hockey since the day it signed on the air in 1998, and has previously held the national rights.

The problem with Sportsnet is not that it cant, or it doesn't really know how to. But that it simply doesn't want to. Because wanting to match TSN's level of production quality would require spending money on the production quality.

I never did directly say that SN was the new kid, it was about the fans not liking the change to SN. FOX was the new kid back then for the NFL. Yep, SN came on at the start of the 98-99 season with a bang by having the national TV rights for the first 4 years of its existence (minus Sat. games and canadian team playoff games).

[Resolute 14]

We don't like the change to SN because we already knew how low quality SN was compared to everyone else. You are trying to give them a pass for being "newcomers" - despite your later claim that you are not. They don't deserve such a break. Rogers has been broadcasting NHL hockey for nearly 20 years. They should not be so bad at it still.

[Resolute 14]

And speaking of April Fools jokes, Sportsnet is now offering you the privilege of paying $25 a month to stream all of their channels:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/sportsn...ginning-apr-1/

[PeteMoss]

FWIW - Rogers regional broadcast deal with the Flames ends with 20-21 season I believe.

[Grimbl420]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

And speaking of April Fools jokes, Sportsnet is now offering you the privilege of paying $25 a month to stream all of their channels:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/more/sportsn...ginning-apr-1/

So I'll still need a TV subscription to watch the majority of Flames games because they'll be on Sportsnet West or Sportsnet Flames and Rogers Gamecentre blacks out regional games.

you're right, it is a joke.

[Hot_Flatus]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

I've never been as disinterested in a season than this year and it's not because we suck. I've been watching for a long time and even in the young guns era I was more excited for hockey than this. I was at home doing nothing and didn't turn on the game until the second period. It's just so boring watching a game on SN especially when the games don't matter. I've been a die hard fan for a long time and would never miss a period let alone a game. I used to watch at least 2 full out of market games a week. This year I've maybe watched 3 total. TSN used to make the games exciting even CBC went down the drain.

Their production value is awful. Consistently miss plays. Tonight Bollig went after a Duck because of a dirty hit and you'd think the camera would be focused on that? Nope. As usual they are out of it and don't really pay attention to the play. The HD is SD. Worst HD I've ever watched. Sound is awful. They don't turn up the crowd volume like NBC does.

NBC is an American network and they blow SN out of the water with their games.

How many years are left?

You can't compare NBC or even what TSN was doing to to the Sportsnet coverage since the new deal was signed. No network has ever attempted to cover hockey like this and they have clearly spread themselves too thin to maintain high broadcast quality across all games. I've noticed improvements since last year and would imagine that there would be another step forward next season.

The thing that worries me is that this may be an underhanded attempt by Rogers to push 4K subscriptions by making the current HD broadcasts look worse than they should. If they can't get HD right by now I can't imagine how they will manage to get 4K working properly.